Safety stop for engines



Sept. 16, 1941. LAGERBERG 2,255,981

SAFETY STOP FOR ENGINES Filed July 19, 1940 INVENTOR. 44/7250 LAGERBi/FG.

Patented Sept. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES rarest orrios SAFETY STOP FOR ENGINES Alfred Lagerberg, Lance Creek, Wyo.

Application July 19, 1940, Serial No. 346,364

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a safety device for internal combustion engines of the stationary type. Such engines are used for driving air compressers, electric generators, and other machines.

It is the custom, to provide such an engine with a belt driven governor device to control the throttle thereof in proportion to the engine speed so as to maintain a. uniform engine speed under varying loads, such installations have resulted in serious damage to engines due to breakage, slippage, or misplacement of the belt which drives the governor device. It can be readily seen that if this belt comes off or breaks, the speed of the governor will be immediately retarded. This will cause the governor to instantly open the engine throttle to the fully open position. The resulting racing of the engine may not only utterly ruin the latter but in case of generators will raise the voltage sufficiently to burn out all of the equipment being supplied thereby.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a safety device to prevent such occurrences, by breaking the ignition circuit of the engine whenever complete stoppage of the governor mechanism occurs.

Other objects of the invention are: to provide a device of this character which will be exceedingly simple in operation; which can be applied to any engine and any type of governor device;

which will be easily understood by any operator; and which will not interfere with the normal starting and operation of the engine.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description. 1

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a typical internal combustion engine of the stationary type with the invention applied thereto.

Fig.2 is an enlarged view of the carburetor portion of the engine illustrating the invention in place thereon.

In the drawing, typical parts of an engine installation are designated by numeral as follows: engine It], governor mechanism I l governor drive belt l2, carburetor I3, throttle shaft l4, throttle lever l5.

The governor mechanism may be of any standard type and, in itself, forms no part of the present invention. Such devices are designed to operate a governor lever l6 which is connected through the medium of a suitable link l! with the throttle lever 15'. They operate to open the throttle when the engine speed decreases and close the throttle as the engine speed increases.

The invention is applied by hingedly attaching a push lever 18 either directly to the throttle lever 15 or to a bracket arm [9 attached thereto, as illustrated. The lever I8 is hingedly mounted on a suitable hinge pin 20 so that it is free to swing. The lower extremity of the lever I8 is curved outwardly to provide a curved riding surface which travels back and forth in a guide track 2| .as the throttle lever moves back and forth under the influence of the governor.

The guide track I2 is supported from a suitable bracket member 22 which may be secured adjacent the carburetor in any desired manner. As illustrated, the bracket member is provided with a foot 23 which is clamped under the head of a cap screw 24, preferably one of the cap screws employed for clamping the carburetor l3 to the engine It.

An ordinary knife switch 25 of the type having an insulating base 26 is also supported by the bracket member 22 in such a position that the handle of the switch, indicated at 21, is in the path of the extreme forward movement of the lever It. The switch is connected in circuit with the ignition current supply to the engine so that when the switch is open, the ignition circuit will be opened and the current cut off, and when the switch is closed, the ignition will be in operative condition.

The relation between the length of the lever I8 and the position of the bracket 22 is such that, when the throttle shaft M has been turned to the completely open position, the extremity of the lever l8 will have pushed the switch 25 to the open position, as indicated in broken line in Fig. 2.

Should the belt !2 break or slip from its pulleys, the governor mechanism II will immediately slow down and stop. This will cause it to swing the governor lever "5 toward the carburetor in an attempt to fully open the throttle. When this occurs, the lever l8 will slide along its track encountering the handle 2'! and opening the switch 25 to prevent destructive racing of the engine.

After the belt has been repaired, the engine can be again started by simply raising the lever l8 and pushing the switch 25 closed. The lever then rests upon the extremity of the switch handle, as indicated at A Fig. 2, until the throttle again resumes the normal running position, at whichtime the lever will drop to its track 2|, as shown in solid line, Fig. 2. I

It will be noted that the device will function at all times that the engine is stopped either through'gas failure or for any other reason. It therefore alsotacts as a safety to prevent the ignition current from being left on when the engine is not in use with the resultant discharging of the battery.

While a specific form of the improvement has been describedand illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same maybe varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing'from the spirit of the inven- 131011; 1

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is: 1 a V r 1- A safety device forengines of the type having a governor'which operates a throttle lever to maintain the speed of the engine uniform under varying load conditions comprising: a switch operating lever hingedly attached to the throttle lever at its one extremity; means for movably supporting the other extremity of said lever; and a switch in the path of the latter extremity to be contacted thereby and opened when the throttle approaches the open position, said switch being in circuit with the ignitioncurrent to said engine.

2. A safety device for engines of the type having a governor which operates a throttlelever to maintain the speed of the engine uniform under varying load conditions comprising: a switch opening device connected to said throttle lever; an ignition switch operated by said opening device sov as to open when the throttle approaches the fully opened position; a switch operating lever hingedly attached to the throttle lever at its one extremity; a slide track supporting the other extremity of said lever; and a knife switch positioned in alignment with said slide track so that when said lever reaches the extremity of said track, it will contact and open said switch, said switch being in the ignition circuit of said engine.

ALFRED LAGERBERG. 

